Saturday Shoutout!!! The New Business of Onboarding

Issue 4 | Number 9 | 30 June 2013

It was winter and the rain was blowing in from the southwest as the Hospital CEO pulled into the parking lot. He was still reflecting on the conversation he had with the Director People and Culture, the afternoon before. They had a number of HR challenges since the creation of the Hospital Board with no real immediate solutions.

Over coffee that morning, the new Hospital CEO read a newspaper article that talked about “Onboarding” in a similar health organisation and how they had great success. He immediately arranged a meeting with his Director People and Culture for the following day. At that meeting the Hospital CEO shared his thoughts to review the current hospital orientation program and make it more aligned to the “Onboarding” project which he read about in the newspaper.

The Hospital CEO felt confident that the “Onboarding” project would be a winner and it now rested solely on the shoulders of the Director People and Culture to make it happen. The Director People and Culture was not a champion of the new initiative as he thought it was just another one of those quick fix solutions. The Director People and Culture had just recruited an Organisational Development Manager and decided to hand over this challenge to this position as he was more involved with union negotiations.

During his conversations with Hospital Executive Managers, the Organisational Development Manager too often heard stories about past human resource initiatives, just like this one, that just failed. The seasoned Organisational Development Manager developed a strategy + project plan that included the foundations for future success – Hospital CEO/Hospital Board/Executive Manager support, defined outcomes + ROI, embedded human resource indicators, training, culture and union involvement.

One month later, the Organisational Development Manager was called to a meeting with the Hospital CEO to discuss progress on the “Onboarding” project. At this meeting, the Organisational Development Manager presented a short simple presentation that illustrated the realignment benefits and to be seen as an employer of choice. His presentation included two main points – (1) getting new hires up to speed in half the time and (2) sharing responsibility between human resources, line mangers, coaches and mentors.

It is now six months later in Melbourne at the gala AHRI HR Awards. The Hospital CEO was reflecting upon his meeting with the Director People and Culture about his desires for the “Onboarding” project. The Hospital had been nominated and was shortlisted for one of the prestigious award categories. He realised that it was a journey for all parties concerned. It had challenged both the culture and set the foundation for future successful projects. It was a journey that required careful planning, implementation and evaluation and ultimately human resources across the hospital in engaging stakeholders.

Begin your “Onboarding” journey now – “can you afford not to?”

Photo Credit:Unknown

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About the Author

To fulfil his professional and personal career aspirations, Tony Wiggins created ‘The HR Architect’brand in 2009. With a well-grounded focus and passion for HR, he thrives on working across his networks as a thought leader in ‘making a difference’ in the HR arena.

Tony Wiggins is the Founder and UX Editor of Saturday Shoutout!!!and The HR Architect Spends 5 Minutes with ….Tony utilises the blog ‘The HR Architect’ as a social media network and platform that empowers HR professionals to network, assist and support one another, spanning different countries, subcultures and niches.